


Loose Ends (Bits and bobs of fics that may never be finished, read at your own risk)

by jcrycolr3wradc



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hetalia: Axis Powers, Soul Eater
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, Mermaids, Other, unfinished works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-08 13:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcrycolr3wradc/pseuds/jcrycolr3wradc
Summary: This is going to be where I post my SE fics that I might never finish. Soul Eater is a habit I'm not sure I'll ever break, these characters are just very close to my heart. But these are all stories that I think have potential. If someone wants to talk about adopting one from me, drop a note in the comments.





	1. Crona is a Mermaid. (F!Crona)

XXX

It all started when Blake (Black Star) pushed Crona off the very high rock everyone had been jumping off of into the ocean below. Kid had seen the half surprised and half resigned look on her face, arms up in a half-hearted pinwheel before surrendering to fate and falling back. Kid didn’t even hear her scream.

Everyone watched her heel slip and Crona’s body disappear over the rounded edge.

“Idiot!” Maka shrieked, sprinting past Black Star. “She can’t swim!”

“What?” Kid, Liz, Tsubaki, and Black Star all said at the same time.

Maka didn’t bother to offer an explanation for her best friend instead casting a very ugly look over her shoulder, and then diving off the rock. Kid cursed and pulled off his shirt to follow.

It was less than five seconds from the dive to the surface, then the odd bubbly echo of the ocean. Kid opened his eyes to search the clear blue water, the salt stinging. He whipped his head around, trying to guess where her body might be. He saw Maka’s pale shape, highlighted by her red swimsuit, swimming below, body twisting to search.

His lungs were quickly starting to ache and Kid had to break the surface before dipping back down. His eyes protested and he thought longingly of his goggles, still on his beach towel on the shore.

He and Maka swam to and fro for five, six, seven minutes. By the time they broke again Maka’s eyes were watering and Kid got the feeling it wasn’t just from the salt.

“Maybe she was washed towards the shore?” He suggested, kicking himself around towards the beach. He could make out Tsubaki’s long black braid and Liz’s form jogging over the sand, shouting Crona’s name.

He stumbled out of the water, blinking the brine out of his eyes. Maka followed him out, coughing slightly. Kid turned his head up and down the empty expanse of beach.

“Look I’m going to try down the south side, she might have been washed up down by the caves down there.”

“Here, take my phone, Kid. Call us the second you find her!” Maka ordered, grabbing her phone off the blanket and tossing it to him.

Kid caught it easily, and took off down the beach, scanning the sands for footprints or, and he hoped he wouldn’t find it, a body.

The beach bent out towards the sea and then back in. No one else was around since it was the tail end of the season, so the eight of them had what seemed like the whole of the mid-California beach. The breeze was crisp but the water was still warm and it had seemed like a great idea to spend some time on the beach before the fall set in and chased them indoors and to their studies.

Or so Kid thought. As he sprinted down the beach, calling Crona’s name, he sincerely hoped that he hadn’t inadvertently killed his crush by wanting to see her in her simple black one piece and short white skirt before cooler weather got her into leggings and over large sweaters.

He curved around the bend of the beach heading towards the small cave system and skidded to a sudden halt, the over-analytical mind immediately catching what was wrong with this stretch.

Kid slowly walked over to the odd tracks in the sand, head tilted slightly as he studied them. They were fresh, sand wet and dark, and deep as if someone had pulled themselves up to the beach. He could just make out where a hand might have clenched the sand to get a grip before dragging themselves along.

Kid walked up the beach, eyes narrowed. Had Crona been injured on her fall, and crawled up the beach to shelter in a cave? Were her legs broken?

He paused just outside of the cave, peering into the darkness. He listened to the wind whistle over the entrance.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Goddamnit!”

“Crona?” He called into the cave, turning Maka’s phone flashlight on. His finger fumbled over the unfamiliar screen lock.

“Kid?! Oh god, don’t come in!!” Kid paused, hand braced on the lip of the cave.

“Crona, don’t be ridiculous, are you hurt?” His voice echoed.

“No, I’m f-fine, don’t come in!” She ordered shrilly even as he moved inside the shallow sea cave, hand braced on the slippery wall.

It took a moment for his mind to understand what he was seeing after his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The second he did, Kid gaped, mouth open.

“C-Crona what?” he choked out.

She’d covered her face, moaning, even as her long black _fish like tail_ curled and convulsed in the sands under her.

“I _told_ you not to come in!” Crona’s words were muffled by her palms. Kid could hardly hear here over the throbbing of his heartbeat in his ears.

XXXXX

Kid managed to shake himself out of his shook and slowly knelt down next to Crona, his hand hovering over- over her tail. He didn’t know if he should touch or not, and it was moving like it had a mind of its own, twisting and curling, almost snake-like.

Crona’s eyes were still covered and Kid definitely didn’t want to touch her if she wasn’t expecting it so instead he swallowed and asked softly, “Are you alright?”

She slowly lowered her palms, sky blue eyes shiny and pale in the dim light of the cave. Her look spoke _for god’s sake, of course not, why would anyone be alright in this situation?_  

“I mean are you hurt? You fell off a cliff.” He tried.

Crona shook her head, her hands coming down and wrapping around her torso. Kid noticed that her swimsuit held on in ragged pieces.

“The fall didn’t hurt me,” she mumbled.

Kid nodded once, pausing before asking, “So can I call Maka?”

Crona’s eyes widened. “No! What, please don’t!”

He stopped halfway through pulling Maka’s phone out to look at Crona. Her eyes were large and panicked. “Kid, please. I don’t want her to know that I’m-I’m…”

“A mermaid?” He tried out the word cautiously, almost reluctantly. Crona winced.

“F-fine sure, one of those. But she can’t know!”

Kid sat back on his heels. “Crona she’ll think you’re dead if I don’t call, and you clearly need,” he gestured inelegantly to her tail “assistance.”

“N-no I don’t!” Crona insisted, her stutter betraying her. Kid softened.

“If anyone could look past her friend being a mermaid, it’s Maka. Let me call, please Crona?”

He could see the fight leave her as her shoulders slumped and she nodded.

Kid couldn’t get reception in the cave so he walked back into the sunlight and lifted the phone to his ear. It hadn’t even made it through the first ring before Maka was picking up.

“Did you find her?! Where is she?”

Kid brought the phone back to his ear. “Yes, she’s ah, okay. But you need to come down, south of where we set up, towards the beach caves.”

“Okay I’ll be right there!” Maka replied no questions asked, as it ever was in regards to Crona.

Kid dithered outside before heading back into the cave. When he came back to Crona, he found her in concentrated silence, and watched as she dug her fingers into where the scales of her tail overlapped, and _yanked_.

The scales came off, three of them in a small strip and so did the top layer of Crona’s skin underneath, pink and bloody. Crona cursed again, wincing, and threw the scales to the side.

“Don’t do that!” Kid ordered her sharply. She winced but then looked up at him, her tail writhing again in the sand.

“I have to! It’s the only way to get rid of it.”

Kid watched as she repeated the process on the other leg. Her tail seemed to show her internal dissent, flopping around in the sand, curling and uncurling.

“It’s hurting you. There’s no-” Before he could finish asking however, his ears caught the distant sound of Maka, yelling.

Kid walked back out of the cave and waved at where Maka was hurtling up the beach at full tilt with Liz, Tsubaki hot on her heels. Patti, Black Star and Soul jogged behind them.

Kid didn’t bother trying to stop Maka before she rushed past him. However, he caught Liz’s arm before she could follow.

“Kid what?” She asked. Tsubaki stopped next to her girlfriend. He noticed she’d grabbed the first aid kit from the cooler. It was a near guarantee someone always found a way to get hurt on these trips. Kid shook his head. The next second Maka screamed.

Tsubaki lurched forward. “What on earth?” She peered into the darkness as Maka continued to shout, her voice now competing with Crona’s pleas to _Just listen to me Please Maka, calm down, I’m fine Stop screaming!_

“Just, just give them a second,” Kid asked quietly, glancing over his shoulder.

Soul, Black Star, and Patti ran up, peering into the cave as well. Maka’s voice had fallen off abruptly.

“What happened? Is Crona okay?” Patti asked.

“She’s fine,” Kid said shortly. “She just needs…a second.”

Maka suddenly reappeared. Her face was bloodless. She looked at Kid.

“You saw?” She asked. He nodded.

“Can we come in?”

Maka hesitated, but Crona yelled: “Fine! Fine, yes you can all come in.” Her voice was pitched hysterically. Tsubaki shot a Kid a questioning look before they all moved back into the cave.

Kid braced himself. Jumpy cellphone beams of light lit the shallow cave, and almost simultaneously landed on Crona’s face and tail. Kid noticed a slight shimmer to her skin in the brighter light.

Soul and Tsubaki gasped. Black Star and Liz cursed. Patti’s childish voice squealed, “Cool!”

Crona had leaned herself against the wall, her tail lying flat out and still, the strips she’d torn away crumpled in the dirt. She’d covered her face with her arms, head turned away as far as she could manage.

Liz swatted her sister on the arm, hissing. Maka knelt down by her friend, tugging at her hands.

“Crona, we’re not mad, we’re glad you’re safe. Come on look at me, please.”

Reluctantly Crona brought her hands down, eyes on everyone’s feet before traveling upward to look them all in the face.

“I-I didn’t want you to know.” Her voice was almost lost to the echoes of the cave. “T-That’s why I never swim. Saltwater does this to me.”

Tsubaki knelt down next, her pre-med training kicking in. She squinted down at Crona’s upper thighs, where she’d torn away her scales.

“What happened, here? Was this from the fall? Liz, quit waving the light around I need to see.”

Crona swallowed. “I have to tear the scales off, to-to get back to normal.”

Next to him, Liz winced.

“Is there any other way?” Tsubaki asked, frowning. “Cause you’ll ruin the dermal layer if you keep just tearing the skin off. You can do permanent damage to your nerves that way Crona.”

Crona squirmed, face crumpling in distress. “If I wait in the light, they’ll dry out and flake off,” she finally mumbled.

“Wouldn’t that be more comfortable for you?” Tsubaki asked gently. “Rather than ripping your skin off?”

Crona looked entirely dubious but at Maka’s quiet pleading, “Crona,” she sighed and relented. Before anyone could touch her, Crona flipped onto her belly and started dragging herself out of cave, tail contracting and releasing to help push her along. Careful not to step on her hands, the rest of his friends filed out.

Kid hesitated for a moment, staring down at one of the black scales Crona had torn off.

XXX

“Sooo,” Black Star drawled, his feet in the waves and leaning back on Patti, “how long have you been a mermaid, Crona?” Crona was sitting far away from the water, leaning back on her arms, trying to get as much of the sun to hit her as possible. She winced and seemed to instinctively hunch in before remembering.  

Kid blessed and cursed him. On the one hand, Kid thought that a tactless way to ask, but on the other, he’d been desperate to ask since he saw her tail.

Out in the sunlight Kid had realized it wasn’t just black, but a subtle myriad of colors that shined blue, grey, and mother of pearl. Belly side, the scales were a lighter color, almost a charcoal grey rather than midnight black that he’d seen contrast against her skin before she’d flipped over. The biologist in him realized that it was just better camouflage for the ocean, mimicking the rippling of sunlight on the water.

Crona played with the sand absently, drawing swirls in it.

“I was born a mermaid.”

“Like Ariel?” Patti asked eagerly. “That’s the shit Crona! Why’d you move to land?”

Crona almost smiled, but her eyes were clouded.

“My whole family are mermaids. We lived off the south of the Grecian coast, close to some of the islands. I don’t know what they’re called in English.” She looked at Maka, who hadn’t taken her sharp green gaze off Crona for a moment, as if she was scared Crona would dive into the sea and leave them on the land.

“We’ll look at a map when we get back. I don’t have them memorized off hand,” she promised.

Crona shook her head. “It’s alright. It’s not very important really.” She stared down at her tail and flexed slightly, and Kid could see scales beginning to curl and flake off, losing some of their ethereal colors as they dulled.

“We were the children of Poseidon. My aunts could still remember the old world before all the ships were machines. My family doesn’t like humans very much.” Crona sighed. “I lived for a long time in those oceans. My mother and aunts would sit on some of the rocks, so their tails were covered and wave at ships. Sometimes someone would try and swim out to them, thinking they were hurt or stranded.”

Crona sank her fingers deep into the sand. Her voice had taken on an odd quality like she wasn’t really thinking of what she was saying. It reminded Kid of when she read poetry and it was like she crafting the words, not just speaking them.

“They’d take the person, usually it was a man, but sometimes a woman, and drag them under the water. They’d swallow water and drown. Then-then,” Crona’s breath shuddered, and she lowered her eyes. “We’d eat them.”

The beach was silent. Kid didn’t dare look at anyone’s face other than Crona’s.

“A few years ago they sent me out by myself to sit on the rocks. A small fishing boat passed by and there was a boy in it. He was fishing for his family. I talked to him and he asked if I needed a ride back to shore. I told him no and let him go. I didn’t know my mother was watching me. She sent up one of the Lost Ones and drowned him, anyway. She was furious I didn’t kill him.”

“We had a huge argument. I told her I didn’t want to kill humans anymore. She told me that it was part of who I was, part of what we were. I told her I didn’t want to be mermaid anymore. She and my aunts pulled me down to the ocean floor and placed a huge rock on my chest, to kill me.” Crona’s voice hadn’t changed at all, but Kid shuddered, his mind picturing her pale and writhing under a huge sea stone, bubbles rising from her mouth as she screamed. Maka made a noise in the back of her throat.

“I escaped and swam for shore. I waited until it was dark and there was no one around, then I removed my scales and pretended I was human,” Crona finished simply. “I told some people my clothes had been stolen and managed to get into the town. People thought I was someone who was living on the island illegally and no one asked me any questions.”

 “How did you get to California?” Liz asked breathlessly. Her blue eyes were wide and she was holding onto Tsubaki tightly. There was an undercurrent of fear. Crona shrugged, still not looking at anyone.

“I worked my way over, on ships. I was just careful to avoid the water. When I crossed the Atlantic I stowed away in a cargo container. I can go for a long time without food, and I just waited until the crew was gone to get out. Then I just kept moving.”

The beach was silent again.

“So this only happens in salt water? Which is why you haven’t uhh, grown a tail in the shower or anything?” Soul asked, trying to sound like this was an everyday occurrence.

“Yes. Only salt water. It’s part of a curse. Many mermaids can leave the ocean, but trying to stay away from is much harder. The ocean calls us. It’s where we belong. It’s who we are.”

“That’s not true!” Maka burst out startling everyone. “You belong with us, Crona! You made a choice to be different from your family and now you’re one of us.”

Crona smiled at her friend and Kid opened his mouth to agree before Crona spoke.

“But I’m not. Look at me, Maka. I have a tail.” She flexed it again to make her point. More scales flaked off into the sand. The skin under them was pink and shiny, like burn.

“So what?” Maka snapped. “I wouldn’t care if you grew fur and teeth and craved human blood, Crona, you’re one of us and you never have to go back to the ocean.”

Crona glanced over and smiled softly. “Thanks, Maka,” she said and squeezed Maka’s hand tightly. Maka nodded firmly and sent a significant look at Soul. He cleared his throat and gently patted her shoulder.

“Yeah. You’re a Scooby now,” he told her. Liz and Patti laughed, the tense moment unwinding. Kid breathed out.

It took more than an hour for Crona’s tail to full flake away and even then, she still had patches above her knees. When the large tail fin could finally be pulled off Crona took it and tossed it into the ocean.

“Something will eat it,” she explained. “It’s easier than trying to throw it away. If someone finds it they wouldn’t be able to match it to any existing fish species.” Everyone made noises of agreement and they started the walk back to the cars.

In his pocket, Kid curled his hand around the three shiny black scales he salvaged from the cave.

XXXXX


	2. Death the Kid is Crona's baby-daddy. Yep. (F!Crona)

Crona stared at the plastic strip in her hand.

“No,” She told it firmly, trying to ignore the way her knees had started shaking. The cute little strip still showed two perfect (symmetrical) lines. Crona bit her lip, practically chewing it in agitation. This one was clearly broken. She threw it away and tried again.

The same, two lines.

Again, again, again.

Pretty soon Crona had gone through an entire box of the tests, all of them showing the same result.

Crona washed her hands and dumped the box into the trash. She crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her head, stomach rebelling fiercely.

She was too shocked to cry. Too stunned to do more than pull her knees to her chest and stare at the wall of her room at the DWMA with unfocused grey eyes.

Without thinking, Crona placed a hand over her belly, the skin thin, muscles tender, still emaciated.

It was impossible. Medusa had removed the tissues required for it, or at least that’s what she thought. She had the scars.

How was it possible for her to be pregnant?

Her fingers gently traced the area she imagined where it was, somewhere in between her bellybutton and hips. Somewhere there was a small bundle of cells that made her stomach flip and head hurt in the mornings. Crona had thought she had the flu, at first but it had been two weeks and it kept happening, like clockwork. She started telling Maka not to bother to pick her up on the way to classes.

She was pregnant. Crona mouthed the word, trying to imagine telling Maka. Or Marie.

Or Kid.

Crona shivered and curled smaller.

Would he get in trouble? Would he blame her? He’d probably think that Crona lied to him when she promised that she couldn’t get pregnant.

Because she shouldn’t have been able to, she _didn’t have ovaries_. She didn’t have a period, she wasn’t fertile. That’s what Stein had said, when he performed that humiliatingly intimate examination on her, under the watchful eye of Nygus.

“Yes, that’s why you haven’t started ovulating because your body doesn’t work the same way most girls do. You don’t shed blood and mucus with your eggs. It’s very interesting.”

Crona pressed her hand in harder, wondering how big it was, what it looked like, did it know that it existed yet, or was it just a little lump of cells. She guessed it had been living in her for at least a month, that was the first time she and Kid had sex.

Kid.

They hadn’t meant to have sex, it had just kind of happened. And then it kept happening. She would go over to study or they would meet in a coffee shop and Kid would start kissing her. She’d only seen it in movies and hadn’t realized how nice it felt, even when it was a little weird that Kid put his tongue in her mouth. That would lead to touching, then back to his bedroom back at the Gallows. He seemed to enjoy touching her, running his hands over her bony torso and the sharp bones of her hips. He always complimented her, calling her lovely and beautiful. Kid’s behavior made her feel special but also incredibly nervous.

Crona hadn’t told Maka and she was pretty sure Liz and Patti didn’t know either. She had no idea about how he felt about her, or if he felt anything at all. Crona was mostly confused. She sighed and covered her face. Everything had been easier when Medusa had done all of her thinking for her, Crona reflected bitterly.

It would be two years this April since Crona had left Medusa, and it had been two parts wonderful and terrifying, one part irritating. She liked being able to have her simple freedoms, eating when she was hungry, going to the bathroom when she wanted to. Being clean. Warmth. Her friends.

But there were also things that grated on her. Lord Death being the most prominent. The Death God had welcomed Crona to DWMA with open arms, even after her little infraction, and for all intents and purposes, he hadn’t interfered with her anymore. But occasionally Crona had the uncomfortable sensation that her room was actually a cell and Death was waiting on the day to collar her, as he’d done to Asura.

In the same vein, Doctor Franken Stein also made Crona’s skin crawl. Occasionally she’d catch him staring at her, olive green eyes that seemed to see straight through her. There was something in his eyes, something that reminded her of Medusa, a light or flicker that let Crona know that if he was given the opportunity Franken Stein would absolutely take her apart with his scalpel.

But for those two, Crona found life at the DWMA to be wonderful. She was warm and always had food. She could come and go as she pleased, more or less. She had _friends_. It was incredible to even think about the concept, never mind the execution. Crona smiled to herself, a weak little thing that just barely made her lips twitch, but it was there nonetheless.

Her stomach flipped again and Crona groaned softly, the smile sliding away.

What in Death was she going to do?

XXX

Crona ultimately decided to just keep quiet about it. She didn’t quite know what would happen when she started to get fat, because she would eventually, but she figured she’d cross that bridge when she burned it.

This didn’t exactly make it easier. Her head swam when she stood up too fast and she found herself constantly tired. It was a good thing that Maka and Marie chalked it up to her consistent malnutrition and reoccurring nightmares.

Much to Crona’s surprise, however, she hadn’t been dreaming at all since she found out about the-the baby. (It was difficult to think about it in those terms still.) She thought that the parts of her brain still wired to Medusa would have had found a way to wrap this to terrify her.

“Movie night tonight?” Soul asked over lunch. Crona was absently picking at her french-fries, hungry but nauseated at the thought of anything with grease on it. “You haven’t seen _Alien_ yet right?”

“Ugh, don’t show Crona that! It’s like a slasher in space,” Liz said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You don’t want to watch that, right Crona?”

Crona looked from Soul to Liz, both of them expectant. Something like a vice clamped around her head and tightened. She hated being the tiebreaker or decision maker! What if one of them got mad at her?

“Crona and I are studying for Stein’s test next week,” Kid said smoothly. He looked at her, gaze serious. “Remember? We discussed it after class.”

They had done no such thing, but Crona nodded and gave him a tiny smile.

Liz and Soul went back to bickering and Kid caught her eye again. He drew his eyes over her face, seeming to linger on her lips. Crona glanced away, trying not to blush.

XXX

Death City was always so wonderfully hot. The sands burned and you had to be careful where you walked on the asphalt in the summer otherwise it might soften and stick to your shoes.

So the grass was very warm even in the shade of the trees. Crona sank her fingers into the dirt as Kid kissed her neck. His lips were cool in comparison to the air temperature. Crona bit her lip.

“Excuse me, that’s my job,” Kid said sternly, golden eyes alight. “I’m supposed to bite your lip.”

Crona smiled shyly as he matched actions to words, kissing and nipping at her mouth. She loosely wrapped her arms around his waist. He’s taken off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, so she could easily brush a thumb over his collar bone. Kid hummed his approval.

 The sun was slowly setting over the city and Crona closer her eyes as Kid leaned in closer, settling more of his weight onto her. She gasped as he brushed over her belly, which had felt tender and swollen all day.

“Crona? Did I hurt you?” He asked, sitting back, looking faintly alarmed.

XXX

 

**Time Skip forward. Crona was knocked out in battle and awakes in the DWMA infirmary, where someone discovers her secret.**

XXX

For one cruel moment, Crona’s mind fooled her into thinking she was back with Medusa. But her reason caught up and she realized that the light pouring through the window meant she could not be back in Medusa’s lab.

Crona sighed and placed a hand over her belly. She swore she could feel the soul of her child, still alive and unhurt under her finger tips. She smiled to herself.

“So does Kid know?” A voice drawled from the shadows. She whipped her hand away from herself, letting it drop to the bed. Stein stepped out of the shadows.

“K-know what?” Crona stuttered.

“Know you’re carrying his child?” Stein frowned. Crona’s blood went cold, well, colder.

“Please! Please don’t tell him!” Crona didn’t even bother to deny it. She struggled to push herself up off the bed but stopped when her back was shot through with pain. Stein rolled his eyes.

“Patient-doctor confidentiality mean anything to you, Crona? Legally, I can’t tell him anything.”

Crona relaxed back with a sigh. “Thank you.”

Stein flapped his hand. He sat down on his omnipresent rolling chair. “But, I do want to know why you haven’t told anyone in the school. I think Lord Death would love to know why his child is knocking up random girls.”

“It’s n-not like that! He and I, we’re, we’re a-a,” Crona struggled.

“A couple?” Stein asked eyebrows raised as though he couldn’t believe it. Crona bristled, slightly.

“He likes me!” She said, offering a rare defense for herself.

Stein held up a hand. “I never said anything that suggested the contrary. Regardless, you’re pregnant and he doesn’t seem to be aware. I can hardly think he would have wanted you in such a dangerous situation otherwise,” Stein said flatly. “When Spirit knocked up Kami, he hovered incessantly.”

Crona winced again, guilt wrapping around her heart, squeezing it painfully.

“I haven’t told him,” She said softly.  


	3. Getting Caught (NB!Crona)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one might even count as finished?

A/N: Some fucking bullshit. I keep thinking that I’ll get over this pairing someday but I never have. Also, I’ve noticed a mild spike in K/C content, which always warms my heart. Notice: I have never written a fic before where Stein/Marie adopted Crona. So this is different. 

 

Typically Kid was not so desperate for Crona’s touch. He could usually restrain himself from clutching desperately at their hips and groaning into their mouth. 

Crona separated them with a gasp. They turned their head and Kid could see their silver blush in the streetlights. 

He stroked their thigh, feeling the lean muscle. He sighed and put his mouth to the crescent of pale skin in between her shoulder and skin.

“Oh Kid, no more. I have to go home, it’s past my curfew already,” they groaned, grasping his hands.

He leaned up on tiptoe to whisper. “Do Stein or Marie wait up for you? With the twins, don’t they go to bed early now?” Kid punctuated his point by kissing the shell of their ear. 

Crona glanced at him with baleful eyes, but their lips slowly tipping up. “That’s not fair and you know it Kid,” they said softly, grasping his chin to tilt his face towards theirs.

He groaned, leaning his forehead on their clavicle. 

Damn human hormones.

“Please? Just five more minutes?” He asked softly, meeting blue eyes. Kid wound his fingers through their hair. He couldn’t explain it, he wouldn’t have been a put a name to the emotions swirling in him. But something about tonight, the way Crona’s large eyes softened, the expression on their face. They nodded.

Crona took his hand and slowly led him up the crumbling arrow walkway of Patchwork Labs. Kid gently tapped his shoes on the new welcome mat. Once, twice, three times. Crona waited and when Kid was done, then they pulled him into the chemical smelling living room. They made it up the stairs, both of them listening carefully for Stein or Marie. There’s snoring but nothing else from their bedroom. Crona also pauses outside the nursery, glancing at their step-siblings.

Finally, they entered Crona’s bedroom, the one at the very back and up a small staircase. The ceiling had bare pipes and ventilation shafts, but Crona had fallen in love with the wall-sized window that looked out over the yard. 

“It helps with the claustrophobia,” they explained.

Crona’s bed was made neatly, the desk clean and clear, the closet door closed on their identical black dresses. Kid shivered: they were a partner after his own heart.

Crona sat down on their bed, leaning back slightly. The moonlight turned their hair to a blaze of silver. Kid followed them down and without another exchange, they were kissing again. Crona’s hands were on his chest, his back, clutching his waist. 

Soon the promise of “five-minutes” was forgotten amid the rush of blood and hormones. Clothes and boundaries were quickly discarded. Every thought of propriety went out the window as Kid found himself on his back, Crona leaning over him, whimpering in his ear. His hands splayed over the small of their back, feeling the spine flex as they moved. Kid stretched up and kissed them, open-mouthed and needy. 

When they finished, Crona curled into his side, head resting on his shoulder. Kid wrapped an arm around their waist, feeling content and warm. 

“You should go, before Stein finds out,” Crona mumbled. Kid sighed and his jaw cracked as he yawned. 

“In a moment,” he said, closing his eyes. Crona’s skin was soft and smelled lovely. It seemed like far too much effort to leave their bed when he heard their breathing had already evened out, signaling their drop off into sleep.

_ If I just close my eyes for a moment, I can get up and return to the Gallows before anyone knows _ , Kid thought to himself before sighing again and turning onto his side, curling closer to Crona. Within moments, he was asleep.

XXX

“Crona get up. There are chocolate chip pancakes downstairs.”

Kid was jerked awake at the sound of Franken Stein’s raspy voice. He looked around, dread washing over him in a cold wave. 

Crona stirred next to him. They opened their eyes and stifled a surprised yelp at seeing him. 

“What are you doing here?” They hissed, sitting up. Kid’s reply was cut off by another firm knock on the door. 

“Not my fault if you’re hungover. You still have to get up and have family breakfast, Crona,” Stein said through the door.

Crona hissed again, then cleared their throat. “I’m up. I’ll be right there,” they called out.

Kid was struggling into his clothing, hurriedly buttoning his dress shirt as Crona lept from their bed and threw on a loose grey shift, pulling on a pair of jeans under it. They gestured desperately for him to open the window and use Beelzebub to escape. Kid was still tangled in his pants.

The door opened.

For a long moment, Stein simply stared at Crona and Kid, face placid and olive green eyes calm. He took in Kid’s half-dressed appearance, the rumpled bed, the kiss marks on Crona’s neck.   

Crona’s grey blush was spreading over their long features. “Please, don’t,” they whispered as a vicious smile spread over Stein’s face. He slowly closed the door. 

“Marie! We have one more for breakfast!” he called. 

Crona let out a despairing groan and sat back on the bed. Kid finished belting his pants and sat down next to Crona. 

“I didn’t intend to fall asleep,” he said. Crona took his hand and sighed. 

“I know. It’s alright,” they said, trying to smile. However, they bit their lip and cast a nervous look at the door. They stood and pulled Kid to his feet. 

“Well you c-can’t run away n-now,” Crona said. 

Despite his dread at facing a Death Scythe and Stein at seven in the morning and having a family breakfast with them, Kid smiled slightly. 

“I would never run from you, Crona,” he said. They smiled and together they faced the door. 

XXX


	4. The Witches's Daughter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one has the best chance of getting expanded on. I blame auntie-nicole on tumblr who drew a piece of art and my mind was like: Yes. This. Go write 25k about it now.

A/N: I reject Okubo’s timeline and canon and substitute my own! Part 1 of a think I may or may never finish, inspired by a sketch page I saw by BLAH who drew Crona as Arachne’s daughter. I literally could not get the idea out of my head, so despite trying to swear off writing long projects for SE, here I am. Sorry. Also the bits that are the same I just montage through because frankly I’m not interested in rehashing the entire episode/chapter.

Blame it on auntie-nicole on tumblr who drew this:

<https://soulofez.tumblr.com/post/175217194273/auntie-nicole-some-doodles-of-my-fav-au-where>

XXX

It was the sound of screaming that originally got Kid’s attention. 

He, Liz and Patti had just collected their kishin soul and were walking down one of the tiny avenues that made up the geography of Brussels. The sun was setting. 

Liz was slowing them down, drooling over every window display they passed, her breath fogging up the glass. “Oh come on, Kid! It’s almost Christmas anyway. We’re in  _ Europe _ . We should shop. I think it’s illegal if we don’t go into at least one,” she insisted. He rolled his eyes. 

Sometimes Liz could be so embarrassing... 

Then without warning, Kid’s head snapped around, his soul detect going wild. Then a long feminine shriek of fear split the cold air. 

“Liz, Patti!” He barked and took off, the girls falling into step with him.

The streets twisted and turned like a nest of snakes but the screaming continued and he led them to its source.

Kid turned into a dead end, facing a man who had backed a trembling figure into the wall. One brief look told him that this was a kishin, the soul pulsating red. The other soul was blue.

“May I interrupt or is this a private affair?” He asked. The kishin turned. The other figure slumped over, either stunned or harmed, Kid couldn’t tell. 

He flicked his hands out and the girls easily slipped into his grasp. In one smooth movement, Kid stepped forward and began to fire. 

The kishin, dressed in Catholic robes and with YDNAP stamped across his forehead in red charged but did nothing more than explode into gory confetti when Kid shot it point blank. 

He stood there for a moment, contemplating the red soul as it floated, but was jerked back to himself when Liz spoke up.

“Hey, we should probably finish the rescue before you freak out about the odd number of souls or something,” she reminded him. Kid released the girls and walked forward, grabbing the soul and banishing it as he passed. The shadows fell away and Kid could see it was the figure of a young woman who had slumped over. 

Luckily she still seemed entirely conscious, simply covering her eyes in distress. A bag was crumpled next to her. 

“It’s alright, I won’t hurt you,” he said and held out his hand to help her up. 

She uncovered her eyes and shakily stood, dusting herself off. 

“Thank you so much for saving me. That terrible man…” She said, looking into Kid’s eyes. They were periwinkle, treading the line between blue and violet. He blinked and felt something very odd starting to happen to his face. Warmth was spreading over his nose and cheeks. 

Kid finally took in the appearance of the girl beyond her enchanting eyes and nearly swallowed his tongue. 

She wore a knee-length silk black dress edged in white lace, with simple black boots, laces tied in a bow. Her light pink hair was cut into a simple shoulder length bob that framed her heart shaped face. 

However none of that set Kid’s heart racing quite like this simple fact: she was entirely symmetrical. He carefully drew his eyes over every inch of her but not a thread was out of place. 

She didn’t even have blemishes or freckles to distract from the paleness of her skin. Kid had never seen anyone so beautiful. 

Kid didn’t realize he’d been standing there, gawking, until Liz kneed him in the back and shouldered him out of the way. 

“Sorry about him. I’m Liz, this is my sister Patti-”

“Yo!”

“And our friend Kid. Are you okay?”

The girl nodded, smiling slightly. 

“I’m not injured. Thank you so much, again. My name is Crona.”

She performed a small curtsey. 

Kid finally shook himself out of his stupor and moved Liz aside so he could stand in front of her. 

“It’s our pleasure! I’m so glad we arrived in time before anything could have happened.” He shuddered, suddenly picturing her perfection tarnished by an injury, or worse. 

Crona picked up her bag, looking at its contents and sighing in relief. “Thank Hecate,” she mumbled, then looked up. “May I buy you some coffee? It’s the least I can do to thank you.”

Kid held out his arm to Crona, lifting his chin importantly. 

“Please, lead on. We would love some.”

She giggled and placed her hand on his elbow, leading them from the alleyway. 

Kid ignored Liz’s look of surprise in favor of more covert staring.

Crona led them to a nearby coffee house and ordered for them all in lilting German. Street lamps came on and snow began to fall. Kid stared at Crona over the coffee pot as she served them. Patti promptly gobbled up her chocolate truffle and began folding her napkin into shapes.

“So are you from here, Crona?” Liz asked, sipping her coffee. 

Crona smiled. “Yes, well not Belgium exactly, but I’m close.” 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“My mother asked me to help an old friend of hers. I’m doing some simple chores, buying 

groceries, the like.” She took a delicate bite of her biscuit, which made Kid flush again for some reason. Crona looked up at him and batted her eyes. “Why have you come to Belgium? Are you tourists?” 

 

Liz opened her mouth to respond but before she could Kid jumped in. 

“We’re working. We come to Europe all the time,” he blurted out. “It’s lovely.”

Crona beamed. “I think so. I hope you’ve had time to go to the Christmas Market?”

Liz glared at Kid. “Well I wanted to, but someone said we were too busy.”

Crona frowned. “That’s too bad. Maybe you could go tomorrow.” She looked up at Kid through her lashes. “I could show you around…”

Kid would have given a lot to say yes to her. The list included all of his fine silver and Ming vases. Regretfully he shook his head. 

“We’re expected back tomorrow. I wish we could.”

Both Liz and Patti protested this, but he ignored them, focused on Crona. She frowned, looking legitimately disappointed that they couldn’t spend more time together. 

“Oh. Well, maybe the next time you are here, we will be able to meet again.”

Kid boldly took her hands in his and looked deeply into her eyes. “Absolutely.”

She flushed slightly and looked down. 

Liz coughed pointedly. Kid let go of Crona’s hand with a silent sigh.

The rest of the coffee was filled with polite chatter about the upcoming holiday and places Crona recommended traveling to. It seemed to Kid she had been all over Europe. Her French was nearly fluent and her grasp on Latin solid. However, then she started breaking into Hellenistic Greek and Kid couldn’t help but be impressed.

“You must have had quite the tutor,” he said. She lifted her chin. 

“I taught myself. My family has an amazing library.”

If someone had a ring handy, Kid would have proposed on the spot. Instead, he took a sip of coffee. 

Liz whistled. 

“You must be pretty smart. Are you in college yet?”

Crona shook her head. “I’m… Well, I work with my mother. I’m expected to follow her footsteps.”

Liz nudged Kid with her elbow. “Sounds like someone we know, huh?”

Kid nodded. “Yes. I’m doing the same thing my father was doing as well.”

Liz snorted. “Who said anything about you? I was thinking of Maka.” 

Crona giggled. “It can be difficult.” She sighed again and looked at her watch. “I’m very sorry but 

I should leave now. I need to deliver these before it gets late. My friend is a very old woman, she doesn’t like to be awake too late,” she said, gesturing to her bag. 

Kid leapt to his feet. “Please! Allow us to accompany you so that if you run into any more trouble, we may assist.” 

Liz started coughing hard and Patti giggled into her coffee cup. Kid steadfastly ignore them. 

Crona however, smiled at them. “That would be very kind. I accept.”

The snow had begun to come down harder, starting to blanket the streets in a fine powder. 

“This is the one thing I miss, since moving to the desert,” Liz sighed. Patti tied to catch the flakes on her tongue. 

Crona had once again taken his arm and they walked in synch. She shivered slightly and Kid seriously considered offering his coat before she stopped suddenly. 

“I think I’ll be fine. She’s right down here,” she gestured down the left. Crona let go of him and stepped away. “It was lovely to meet you all.” 

“Yeah you too, Crona. Hope your mom doesn’t work you too hard,” Liz said. Patti leapt forward and gave Crona a hug. 

“If you’re ever stateside, come meet us!” 

Crona staggered slightly but patted Patti on the back. “I will. If you come back, I hope we meet again.” She glanced at Kid, smiling. 

Kid made a private promise that he was going take as many mission as he possibly could in western Europe from this moment forward. 

He stepped up and took her hand, gently kissing the back of it.

“I look forward to it.”

She blushed prettily and after a final farewell, turned down the street. Kid leaned over to watch her walk away. 

He sighed.

“Oh my fucking god,” Liz said finally. “You are such a sap. You’re a tree that’s how much sap you’re leaking all over the place right now. I could use you on my pancakes.” 

Kid ignored her, feeling a little like he was walking on air. He was aware he was smiling as the girls transformed and he summoned Beelzebub. On the way home he couldn’t resist doing a few flips and tricks in joy. 

XXXXXXXX

Crona was still smiling to herself when she knocked on the door. 

“Lamia. I brought you gifts,” she called through the door. After a moment, it opened. A blind old woman opened it. Her hair fell in curls to her waist, tied back with a golden clasp. 

“Crona, my dear. Thank you. Would you come in? I always have a special treat for my favorite little witch,” she crooned. Despite her incredible age, her voice was still honeyed. 

“Thank you, Lamia, but my mother expects me back home. I also have to go to the Witches Mass tonight.” 

Lamia nodded and took her bag. “Say hello to your respected mother for me. And Mabaa.”

Crona curtseyed. “I will give them your regard. Thank you Lamia.” 

She turned away, heading towards the bar where she knew she would find Ragnarok. 

Crona hummed as she walked, still feeling very cheerful about the people who had valiantly come to her ‘rescue’ earlier. 

She couldn't wait to tell Grinko. He was always so cynical about humans being worthless, but it was clear the boy who’d confronted YDNAP was very brave. Even if she hadn’t really needed any assistance, she was flattered by the intention. 

And not very hard to look at, if Crona was honest. His eyes had been such an unusual color, but very beautiful.

As she walked towards the bars, Crona considered the rest of her schedule for the night. She and Ragnarok had to return home to get ready for Mass, where Mabaa would want to know the recent statistics about the kishins. 

For a reason they couldn’t fathom there had been surges in more and more kishin springing up. Crona had been tracking them, seeing if there was a common source to it all. 

She couldn’t see any pattern to it yet. It was...vexing. 

Crona opened the door to the bar and immediately saw her partner sitting at the bar, talking with some local men. She sat on the bar stool next to him, ignoring the way several men glanced at her legs. 

“Ragnarok…”

“I have a hundred on Sergi winning his next fight,” he told the man next to him who scoffed. Crona sighed. 

“Ragnarok.”

“He’ll be heavyweight champion this year. I guarantee it,” he slurred.

Crona sighed and sat up straight. “Ragnarok I think I’m pregnant.”   


He spat out his drink and spun around to look at her, face blank in shock. She smiled. 

Ragnarok growled. “You little bitch. Don’t say shit like that to me.” 

“If you didn’t drink so much and listen when I talk, I wouldn’t have to,” she sniffed. Ragnarok threw on his leather jacket, tossing down some cash. 

“What are you, my mother?”

She followed him out into the snow and down towards the outskirts of town. 

Ragnarok was twice her size and nearly as broad as a barn door. People moved out of his way and allowed them to easily get to an abandoned lot where a stretch limousine sat idling. 

Crona smiled. “Right on time, as always.”

Ragnarok snorted. “Geezer has such as fetish for punctuality.” 

She shouldered him, even though it was like hitting a concrete pillar. “Be nice to mister Mosquito.”

The door opened. The diminutive butler hopped out and bowed.

“Lady Crona. Ragnarok.” He bowed again. “As you requested.” 

Crona nodded her head. “Thank you very much Mr. Mosquito.” 

He smiled up at her. Ragnarok got in, mumbling “kiss up.”

Crona followed and let Mosquito shut the door behind her. 

“Did you find out what ol’ YDNAP was was up to?” Grinko asked, leaning out of the shadows in the seat across from her. He poured them all a glass of wine as the limo drove into the night.

Crona sighed. “No, he ran before I could get anything out of him. Beastly man.” 

Grinko and Ragnarok exchanged an amused look. Grinko often said that Crona reminded him very much of her mother. 

“Never mind. You’ll catch him next time. I have my golems scouting as well. None of them have seen anything yet. Yet.” He emphasized, smiling dangerously. His jagged teeth glinted in the light of the moon.  

Crona rested her chin in her palm. “I just wish I knew why they’re becoming so prevalent now. It makes no sense!”

She had the odd feeling that the rise in kishin was the result of an unknown factor. One she couldn’t see and it bothered Crona.

She hated being left in the dark.

Grinko extracted a deck of cards and challenged Ragnarok to their traditional game of Gin rummy. Crona watched, practicing her clairvoyance, trying to guess the next card that was going to be drawn. 

The limo climbed higher into the mountains, the sky darkening and snow streaming past the windows. Eventually it came to the hidden cave entrance of a very old fortress, long forgotten by the surrounding humans. It had lain nearly empty for 800 years. 

It was the only home Crona had ever really know. She’d done some schooling with other witches in the north of Africa, China, Australia, but her home was here, in these misty and forgotten hills. 

The limo pulled to a stop deep within the cavern. Mosquito was out and promptly opening her door, extending his hand to help her out. 

“Welcome home Lady Crona.”

“Thank you Mosquito.”

One of the servants came forward and Crona handed over her coat and bag, stretching. 

“I think this Christmas if going to be cold. Mosquito, can you please make sure all of our neighbors have enough firewood?” She walked forward, heading up the stairs into the fortress proper. She was eager to wash and change for tonight, but she had something she needed to do first. 

“Of course, Lady Crona.”

She smiled. 

It was always the same with him, ever since Crona had been a little girl. Mosquito thrived on formalities, propriety, a place for everything and everything in its place. He and Grinko butted heads over it regularly.

Ragnarok and Grinko tailed her upstairs. Grinko threw a thumb over his shoulder. 

“I’m checking on dinner. I’ll let you know when the old fart thinks it’s appropriate to eat.”

Crona nodded. 

Ragnarok crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you want me to go with you, to give your report.”

She shook her head. “No. You may go retire for the night if you want. You can’t come to the Witches Mass anyway.”

Ragnarok grinned and reached out a massive hand to ruffle her hair. “Thank Hecate. Can’t imagine anything more boring than listening to a bunch of old women natter to each other in Latin.”

“Ragnarok, someday I’ll be in charge of those nattering old women, show some respect, please,” she said, even as she smiled.

Ragnarok rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah yeah. Tell her I said, hey, alright?” 

Crona nodded and continued upwards, to the highest tower. 

She’d made this trip every day since she could walk so the eight flights that would have winded another, she made easily. Crona knocked on the elegantly carved ebony doors, before pushing one open. 

There, on a bed on a raised dais in the middle of the room, laid a silent figure. Long black hair trailed to the floor in a neat braid. A silver handled brush sat on the table next to her. Other than the steady rise and fall of her chest, nothing in the room moved. 

Crona made her way forward, lighting candles as she went. She sat herself in the wingback chair next to the bed and smiled at the pale face. 

“Hello Mother.”

XXXXXXXX

Chapter Two. Witches. 

After speaking to her mother for a while, Crona descended. She sighed. 

It was one of her earliest memories, being taken into that dark room by Grinko and introduced to her mother. He’d explained, his normally harsh voice soft, that she’d been very injured when she delivered Crona and had only remained conscious long enough to name her and make Crona her official heiress, before falling into a deep healing sleep. Crona had been raised by trusted friends of her mother’s. Mosquito, Grinko, and a coven who followed her mother still. 

Years passed and it seemed that whatever injured had been done to her had reached all the way into her soul. 

“Under certain conditions, she may yet wake. Have hope, Lady Crona,” was what one of the numerous doctors who came to aid her told Crona. 

Crona, after a certain age, realized there was nothing to be done for her mother. And sitting by her bedside, feeling sorry for herself, did nothing. 

So Crona learned all she could of what her mother had meant to other witches and began to try and do the same. Her efforts were noticed and soon the covens began to tell her how proud her mother would be of her. 

There was always something satisfying to Crona, to hear those words. “Your mother would be so proud of you. She would love that you’re making us strong, Lady Crona.” 

When her mother did wake up, Crona wanted something to show her, to make her see that even though she hadn’t raised Crona, they still had something in common. 

They were both strong. 

Crona straightened her shoulders as she walked into the dining room. In the portraits of her mother, she always looked like she held herself proudly. Crona did the same. 

Dinner was a leg of roasted lamb with a mint sauce and roasted mushrooms. 

Crona, as the technical head of house sat to the head of the table, with Ragnarok on her right and Grinko on her left. She would have liked Mosquito to sit as well but he insisted it wasn’t proper. He stood just behind her chair, serving her as Crona needed.

Ragnarok and Grinko both waited for Crona to raise her fork before starting to eat as well. 

“When do you need to leave?” Grinko asked. Since both he and Ragnarok were weapons, they couldn’t accompany her to the Mass. 

“After dinner is finished. I need to see if Eruka is finally back,” Crona replied. The frog witch had missed the past three Masses and Crona was beginning to worry. Witches as a rule were an independant lot but Prey witches tended to stick together for safety. Not even the Muzinai sisters had seen Eruka. Some other witches had expressed concern that Eruka had been caught by the DWMA. However if a meister and weapon had taken her soul, they would have heard of a new Death Scythe. 

Crona had the private theory that the rise in kishin souls and her friend’s disappearance were connected. But without evidence, she couldn’t suggest the theory to Mabaa. 

After dinner, Crona left them to change into something more formal. A long black silk dress with embroidered silver webs around her shoulders and waist. She put her hair up and placed a pointed black hat on her head. One of her mother’s spiders climbed up to the top, and dangled down.

Crona looked at herself in the mirror, frowning slightly. 

Despite all of her training, Crona’s magic powers were much weaker than the rest of her family’s, according to Mosquito. She didn’t even have a familiar. Crona, despite all of her dedication to the coven, still felt like a stranger in these clothes. An imposter witch. 

She sighed and straightened her shoulders. 

Crona swept down the stairs and grabbed up her broom. Mosquito handed her cloak. Crona sat sidesaddle on the handle, before flying off into a cold, clear night. 

XXXXXXXX

Witches Mass happened at a different location every month. It used to be held in Greece, where the first temples to witches were, but eight-hundred years ago, when Death declared Witches outlaws, criminals, unwanted scum of the earth, it became safer to move every month to prevent meisters from tracking them.

To find Witches Mass, you had to  _ be _ a witch. 

Crona landed in between the trees and listened carefully to the sounds around her. A muffled hum seemed to fill the air. Magic swirled around her, leading her deeper and deeper into the woods, towards the coven. 

She arrived on the edge of a clearing that seemed abandoned at first glance. Crona took a deep breath and placed her hand out, palm up. 

She could sense the invisible force of nature around her, from where all witches drew their power. She could also sense the magic of her fellow witches. Crona murmured a few words and the wards around the clearing allowed her through. 

The soft babble of the others washed over her, voices dipping as she passed. A few greeted her with respect or familiarity. Crona scanned for Eruka’s white hair or orange hat but there was still no sign of the other witch. 

Her disappointment and worry was interrupted by a sudden squeal of excitement. 

“Crona!” 

Angela came barreling through the others, Mifune just a pace behind. The youngest witch of the coven threw herself into Crona’s arms, shrieking with delight when Crona spun around, holding tight to her waist.

“Angela Leon, how is my favorite witch?” She asked, grinning, pushing Angela’s hat back so she could see her dark pink eyes. 

“We were attacked by meisters! They hurt Mifune, but he beated them real bad,” she said breathlessly. 

Crona nearly dropped her in shock. She looked at Mifune with wide eyes. He nodded slightly and Crona noticed that one of his arms was bangaged. 

“The kid, he was an idiot, but strong. His weapon wanted him to take Angela. He didn’t.” 

A cold wave of dread swept over Crona, before anger settled in her stomach, hot and heavy. 

“Well, we'll make sure he never ever comes close to you or Mifune again, alright Angela? Don’t worry,” she assured the girl. Angela nodded, playing with Crona’s hair as she listened. After a moment of staring, Crona set Angela down. 

“Go. Pay your respects to Mabaa. Mifune and I will be right here.” 

Angela pouted for a moment before nodding and running off at top speed. 

Mifune stood next to Crona, looking after her. 

“THe DWMA could have killed her. She’s a child and they sent someone after her,” Crona’s voice shook slightly and she strived to get control of herself.

“I would have protected her to the last drop of blood,” Mifune said. 

Crona swung around to look at him. “You are not the problem. I know you would honor a child. It’s Death I can’t trust. Death who sends children to hurt other children,” she spat. 

Mifune rested his scarred hand on her shoulder. 

“You are a child too. You can’t be there to protect all of us. You do enough, Lady Crona,” he said quietly. 

Crona didn’t answer, instead taking a deep breath. 

“Thank you Mifune. I know. That does not make it easier, but I know you will protect Angela.”

Mifune nodded, and reached into a pocket. He handed her a hard candy. 

“Here. For your troubles.”

Crona finally smiled slightly. “Is it seaweed?”

 

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 3. Europe. 

“Oh what about this one Kid?” Patty held it up. “There’s a serial killer loose in Melbourne.”

“No.”

“Okay.” Liz said looking at another posting on the DWMA mission board, “What about El Chupacabra, in Mexico City?”

“No.”

“Do you want some crazy rave zombies in Tokyo?”

“No.” 

“A killer clown in Texas?”

“No!”

Liz threw her hands up, exasperated.

“Do you even want to  _ go _ on a mission Kid?”

He kept scanning the board. “Yes of course I do. I’m just looking for…” He trailed off, feeling his 

face flush again. 

Kid did not want to admit he was looking for missions that took place in western Europe, to increase the chance of running into Crona again. He knew that the teasing he would take from 

Liz and Patti would be intense if he admitted to his attraction.

Kid was beginning to wonder if he could ask Father to send him to Paris to pop in on Justin when he finally saw a posting for a small town in the north of France. 

“A haunted tapestry?” Liz asked dubiously when Kid pulled it down. “I don’t think that sounds real, Kid.” 

“We’re going,” he said in his most authoritative voice. Liz rolled her eyes and Patti smirked. 

“Besides, if we get done quickly, maybe I can be persuaded to take a trip to Paris…”

Liz grabbed his wrist and started pulling Kid towards the door. 

“I think I can hear Armini calling me all the way from here.”

XXX

The haunted arras in Arras was quickly dispatched. It was far from the most challenging mission they had ever taken. The tapestry had gently wiggled at them. Kid shot it full of holes. It dropped the ground in tatters. 

Patti looked down at it and nudged it with the toe of her boot. “I dunno Kid. I think we just killed a family of rats.”

He ignored her and started striding for the exit. 

“Well, I’m a god of my word. Ladies? Paris? Ca va?” 

He heard Liz give a cheer and run to catch up with him, already rattling off all of the shops she wanted to visit.

As they wandered around the holiday markets, Kid kept looking around for a flash of pink hair, hoping against hope. 

Kid did not usually get crushes, he was too busy, too focused on his future as his father’s heir to think about something so silly as romance. However Crona’s blue eyes kept popping into his head at unlikely moments, like during Stein’s lectures or dissections. The pleasing warmth of her soft hand in his remained with him.  So Kid did not usually get crushes, but Crona seemed to be an exception. 

When Liz was groaning under the weight of her purchases and Patti had worked herself into a sugar induced hype, Kid sighed and conceded that Crona probably wasn’t anywhere near Paris. 

“Hey look!” Patti pointed. “Isn’t that Crona, that chick from Belgium?” 

Kid whipped his head around and frantically searched the crowd. Patti was entirely correct. 

Crona was about three meters away, at a three quarter turn. She was wearing a black beret and a coat that swept to her ankles. Several paper wrapped packages were under her arm and she seemed to be speaking to the owner of the tent she was standing at. 

Kid’s heart leapt to his throat and he started towards her, ignoring the giggles from the ladies behind him. 

He came up behind her just as she was handing over some euros. Kid cleared his throat and Crona spun around, eyes wide. Her expression lit up as he raised his hand in greeting. 

“Hello again, Crona.” 

“Kid, Liz, Patti. I wasn’t expecting to see you again. What brings you to Paris?” She asked. Kid offered her his arm and she laid her hand on him.

“I work for my father. He often sends me on important missions,” Kid boasted. Liz snorted and butted in, taking Crona’s other arm and sending Kid an evil grin. 

“Yeah, like today we were playing at being glorified exterminators,” she said. 

Crona giggled while Kid’s face lit up in red. “Well, it’s no different than being my mother’s errand girl I suppose. What does your father do?” She asked.

Before Kid could answer, Patti knocked into his side, taking his other arm and ensuring that he and Crona were pressed together from shoulder to hip. Crona blushed and readjusted the packages. 

“Allow me,” he said and Crona hesitated before allowing him to hold them for her. She glanced at Liz and Patti. 

“You know I was just about to go have a coffee. I need to meet a friend, but I don’t suppose that you’d like to come along?” She asked. 

“We’d love to!” Kid blurted out. “Right, Liz? Patti?” 

Liz was just barely holding in her giggles and Patti wasn’t even trying as they agreed. Walking down the street sandwiched against the prettiest girl he’d even met Kid was feeling very smug. Until they entered the cafe and Crona waved to someone. 

Someone was named Ragnarok. He was probably just short of Stein’s height and twice as broad, with vicious scars that crossed over his face. He looked down at Kid with obvious suspicion. 

“Whoa,” Patti said, looking up at him with wide eyes. “You are the meanest looking mother-fucker I’ve ever seen.” Both Liz and Kid groaned. 

Ragnarok however grinned and looked at Crona who was rolling her eyes. “See, this chick gets it! I like you,” he said to Patti who grinned back. “You ladies want to go to a real bar?” He said thumbing over his shoulder. “There’s a german style one around the corner.”

“Fuck yeah you’re speaking my language. Hey Kid can I borrow your wallet?” Patti asked. 

Now Kid faced a dilemma. On the one hand he could send Liz and Patti away and guarantee Crona’s attention, but risk them damaging the city of Paris, on the other he could sit through Liz and Patti giggling at him as he tried his hand with wooing Crona. 

Promptly, Kid handed over wallet and turned to Liz. “Would you mind supervising Liz? Please?” 

He added carefully. 

Liz rolled her eyes but nodded. “Don’t think I won’t remember this when we get home,” she whispered as she passed by. Kid kept his dignity and ignored her. 

With Ragnarok, Liz and Patti out of the way Kid felt giddy. This was what all of his manners and gentlemanliness was leading to.

“Allow me,” he said and after setting he packages down carefully, he pulled out Crona’s chair and then slid it back in after she sat with a little giggle. “What would you like to drink?” He asked, gesturing to the counter. He wished it had been a traditional parisian coffee shop and not a chain but Kid would work with what he had, damn it.

“Will you please get me a cafe latte?” She asked, reaching toward her bag. “Here.” She attempted to hand him a few coins but Kid ducked away smoothly with a wink. 

“Don’t worry, this is my treat,” he said triumphantly. Crona cocked her head slightly. 

“I thought Patti took your wallet?”        

Kid grinned and patted the other side of his jacket. “I carry two wallets, as to keep my outfit precisely balanced.”

Crona smiled slightly and sat back. “Well alright then. Thank you, Kid.”

“Du rien,” he said, waving it away and turning to the line to hide his suddenly hot face and wide silly smile.

XXX

Crona was just as engaging as the first time they had met, much to Kid’s delight. Due to his personality, Kid did not immediately get on with everyone he met, which was fine, Kid had never been a social butterfly. But Crona listened devotedly as Kid explained the newest renovations he had completed on the Gallows, asking questions about the kinds of art he appreciated, where he hired his contractors, how long had he lived in the Gallows?

“My whole life,” Kid said proudly. Crona smiled. 

“I’ve lived in the same place my entire life as well. Would you ever want to move?” She asked.

Kid had never considered moving from Death City in his entire life. He sat back and was silent for a moment.

“It would take a lot for me to move,” he admitted finally. “My home has a piece of my soul.” 

Crona nodded solemnly. 

“I understand. It would take a lot for me too,” she said.

They both were silent for a moment before Crona glanced up and bit her lip. 

“Would you like to take a walk somewhere? The Seine is close to here and the ice on it sparkles during the winter,” she asked.

Kid’s heart began to race. “I would love to.”

XXX

Crona had been entirely correct, the river was beautiful as they walked along next to it. Crona had looped her arm through his and Kid was once again carrying her packages.

For the first time in a while Kid was feeling totally content. His anxiety, his father, kishins, school, all seemed to be washed away as he looked over at Crona’s face, bathed in the light of the winter sun setting over Paris. It was a slightly unnerving feeling, but one he was sure he could get used to.

They stopped on a bridge and looked down into the murky water of the river. The clouds, grey and fluffy, prevented any reflection in the Seine. 

“Kid-”

“Crona-”

They both started at the same time and then looked at each other and flushed. Crona shook her head. 

“Sorry, please what were you going to say?” She offered. 

Kid cleared his throat. “Well I wanted to ask if maybe you would like to do this again? Without Ragnarok and the ladies? Just us?” 

Crona flushed red but smiled and nodded. “I would. Do you know the next time you’ll be here?”

Kid hesitated. Father’s new year’s party was only weeks away but he would likely be able to come back early in January. He told Crona as much. She hummed thoughtfully. 

“We could meet here on January 7th?” She asked. Kid blinked and twitched. 

“Is there anyway we could make it January 8th?” He asked reluctantly. Crona blinked but nodded an amused twist to her mouth. 

“Alright.” 

Kid beamed and gently took her hand so he could kiss the back of her fingers. His heart was racing and it felt as if Beelzebub had materialized beneath his feet to lift him into the sky. 

“Then it’s a date.” 

XXX

Crona was in a very good mood. After she and Kid had made their arrangement, they went to find Ragnarok and Kid’s friends at the bar. They kept glancing at each other each one smiling like it was a foolish game. 

He’d had to go back home, but he’d given her a quick kiss on the cheek while Liz and Patti hid their snickers, before nearly running away out of the bar. 

Ragnarok growled. “The fuck?” 

Crona ignored him, leading the way back out into the street, humming. “What?” She said glancing over her shoulder. Ragnarok stomped behind her. 

“You fuckin’ know what. Don’t make me drag Grinko into this. He’ll slice his balls off,” Ragnarok warned. Crona rolled her eyes. 

“No he won’t because, we’re not going to tell Grinko,” she said sweetly. Ragnarok snorted. 

“Good luck getting away with it little sister.”

She stopped and spun suddenly, making her weapon stumble to stop if he didn’t want to accidentally run into her. She opened her eyes wide and tilted her head to the side. 

“But you won’t tell him right, Ragnarok?”

He scowled and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Alright alright, put the fucking puppy-dog eyes away. I won’t tattle about your little boyfriend. But I will laugh when it comes down on your head.” 

Crona smiled and moved to stand beside him and looped her arm through his and shoved the bags into his hands. “I was hoping you’d see it my way big brother.” 

XXX

Crona was back in her room at the castle, carefully wrapping packages for Christmas. She frowned at the small china frog she’d bought for Eruka and placed into the box to wrap it. Crona still had yet to hear anything from the witch. Witches could disappear sometimes, if the DWMA was chasing them or if they were having children, but Crona couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. 

She gathered her gifts and brought them downstairs to place next to the hearth. Crona paused when she could hear Grinko speaking in the dining room. 

“I heard it from the Fisher King. That bitch is still out there. She’s right under Death’s nose,” Grinko was growling. Crona paused, breath stuck in her chest. 

“He’s failing in his dotage. If Lady Archene’s sister wants to seek her destruction from a Death Scythe, let her. Good riddance,” Mosquito sniffed.

Crona nearly revealed herself.  _ Sister?! _

“You know she brought nothing but trouble. I won’t introduce a witch like that into Lady Crona’s life,” the old man continued and Crona watched Grinko’s and Mosquito’s shadows come closer. “Her mother wouldn’t want Medusa as a part of her life.” 

Crona was trembling as she silently moved back up the staircase and back into her room where she sat down on her bed.

“Medusa,” she said out loud, testing the name. She knew the etymology of the name, a woman cursed on an island to be isolated for her whole existence until Perseus killed her. What kind of life would a witch with that name lead? 

From how Grinko and Mosquito spoke about her, it sounded as if she was dangerous, although all witches were dangerous. And Crona’s mother had not approved of her. 

Crona looked out the window at the swirling snow. It was in these moments she wished her mother was awake. She wanted to ask about Medusa, about if she should be concerned for Eruka, if Crona was doing enough for the witches. About Kid.

Crona leaned back and grabbed one of the goose down pillows to her chest hiding her face in the cotton, tears starting. Her sobs were near silent, shoulders hitching slightly.

How could she miss a mother she never knew?           

She let her tears dry naturally before she washed her face and changed for bed, finally taking the gifts downstairs. Crona nearly ran into Mosquito on her way back up the stairs. 

“Lady Crona, there was a phone call for you. I believe the young man is still on the line, waiting for you,” he said stiffly, mustache ruffled. Crona heart leapt and she nearly allowed her happy grin to slip, instead nodding primly. 

“Thank you Mosquito. I’ll let you know when I’ve gotten off the line,” she said, moving past him. 

“Of course Lady Crona.” 

She bit her lip as she hurried to the office where the landline was. Crona nervously smoothed a hand over her hair and picked up the phone. 

“Hello, this is Crona.”

“It’s Kid. I hope it’s not too late for me to call,” he said. The sound of his voice made her heart race.

“No not at all,” she said softly. “Are you home already? I would think the flight would be longer.” 

“Nearly. Liz and Patti insisted on a detour in New York. I’ll be back by tomorrow.”

Croma hummed and sat back in the chair. “I’ve never been to New York. What’s it like?”

“Well- it’s big. And loud. There is garbage absolutely everywhere and everyone is in a hurry. I can’t say it’s my style,” Kid admitted. “But Liz and Patti are from here and they love it. They took me to Times Central Square and made me watch the crowd. In the middle of all that chaos it was strange but I could also feel the connections between humans.” 

Crona’s breath stuttered. “Well that’s quite an endorsement. You have a way with words.” 

Kid let out a breathy laugh that made her shiver. “Well thank you. Maybe- maybe you could come with us next time.” 

Crona smiled. “I’d like that.” 

“What have you been doing?” Kid asked after a pause, voice quiet. “If you were turning in I can just wait to call later.” His voice was hesitant. 

“I’d like to talk now, if you don’t mind. I’ve...been feeling lonely,” Crona admitted. “I’ve been wrapping Christmas presents and I was reminded of a friend of mine who’s missing.”

“I’m sorry Crona. Is there anything I can do to help?” He asked softly. 

“That’s kind of you to offer, but no. I’m looking for her. I just hope she’s alright,” Crona said quietly.

“If she’s friends with you she’s probably extremely competent, Crona,” Kid said confidently. Crona smiled, against her will. 

“Thank you Kid.” She smothered a yawn against the back of her hand. 

“You are tired. You should go,” Kid said. Crona hummed. 

“Alright. Goodnight Kid.” She smiled suddenly. “I’m looking forward to seeing you in January.”

There was an odd noise from the other side and then-

“I’mLookingForwardToItAsWell. HaveAGoodNightCrona,” Kid said in one breath before the line cut off. 

Crona was still giggling when she went to bed. 

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 4.

Kid sighed again, staring out the window. The desert glittered in the winter sunlight. Even though it was 95 degrees out Kid was reminded of a much colder scene. Or Seine, as it was. 

He was thinking about the color of Crona’s eyes, the sound of her voice, the feeling of her hand on his arm. He let out another little hum, considering where to take her when he saw her next. Kid didn’t dare ask Liz, knowing the teasing he would in for, and so instead had to rely on his not inconsiderable amount of previous travel experience to think of something. 

The Louvre? She seemed to like Paris.

“Ahem.”

Italy? They could go to Milan or Florence and admire the cradle of asceticism.

“Kid.”

Egypt? Kid always loved to visit Cairo and he knew that the sun would likely make Crona flush pink...  

Something bounced off the back of his head, jarring Kid from his thoughts. He turned around to glare at Maka, who pointed urgently at the front of the room.

“Still with us Kid?” Professor Stein called out and Kid flushed. 

“Yes sir,” he said. 

“Good, then why don’t you tell us about soul protect since you have the time to daydream,” Stein said tonelessly. 

Kid refused to scowl and instead sat up straight. “Soul protect is a device used by a witch to obscure the true nature of their soul. It makes them seem human instead.” 

Stein nodded. “Good. Anything else?”

Kid stared at him blankly. “Anything else?” 

Stein let out a heavy sigh and turned to the blackboard, chalk squeaking as he wrote on it. “Witches don’t use spells to obscure their souls. Powerful witch families can also use antiques and enchant them. These are often given to their less powerful allies or children who haven’t controlled their powers yet.” Stein was drawing something on the board: rings, pendants, bracelets. “Just remember that you always need to keep your guard up.” The light bounced off his glasses as he looked back at Kid. 

XXX

After class Stein requested that Kid stay behind. 

“We’ll be at the front doors,” Liz promised and walked out with Patti, leaving him to whatever fate Stein had in store. 

“Care to explain your performance in class recently?” Stein asked blandly as he watched Kid straighten up the classroom. “You’ve been drifting off and quiet. I checked the recent missions you’ve been taking too and they’ve been under your skill level.”

Kid blushed and focused on making the distance between each seat equal. 

“Kid, from what I understood the reason you are taking classes at all is because you asked your father. If you aren’t interested in participating or helping your peers, it would be more beneficial for you to do more field work for your father,” Stein continued, lighting up a cigarette. “We have missions that could use your reconnaissance.”

Kid shook his head. “No. I want to remain a student at the DWMA,” he insisted. “It’s...good for me to be around meisters, to interact with others than just Liz and Patti.” 

“Then you understand you need up your performance?” Stein said, hoarse voice deceptively mild. 

“Yes professor,” Kid said, shame prickling over the back of his neck. 

“Good, then I have a mission for you, straight from your father.” Stein laid a folder out on his desk. “He’ll want you to report to him directly for this.” 

XXX

Kid had the folder tucked safely under his arm while when he rejoined Liz and Patti. To his surprise Maka, Soul, Black Star and Tsubaki had also waited for him. 

“You really didn’t need to,” he explained, bemused. 

Soul bumped him with his shoulder. “C’mon. What are friends for?” he smirked. Behind him Liz let out a loud and prolonged “AWWWWWW!”

Patti had demanded a piggyback ride and jumped on Black Star, riding him like a horse, with her fingers dug into his mouth to steer, slightly muffling his usual chatter. 

“Yeah Kiddo, this is our posse now!” She said and glanced at him slyly. “I bet Crona would join if you asked her nice.”

“Who’s Crona?” Maka asked, walking on Kid’s other side.

Kid opened his mouth to insist that she was no one but Liz spoke over him. 

“Kid’s girlfriend! They met in Belgium and fell head over heels for each other. Kid’s going to go on a date with her and everything,” she said very quickly and loudly. 

Kid reminded himself to set all the alarms in the Gallows for 4 am so they could have an extra long workout tomorrow morning and to also ask Father to restrict Liz’s allowance for the next 50 years. 

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said over Tsubaki’s giggles and Soul’s catcalling. “She’s a girl who is a friend. We had coffee. That’s it,” he said brusquely. Maka’s eyebrows rose into her bangs even as she started to grin.

“Is that why you were offering to show her New York while you thought Patti and I were asleep in the hotel?” Liz shot back, smiling. 

“Kid’s got a girlfriend, Kid’s got a girlfriend, Kid’s got a girlfriend,” Patti chanted and he could hear Black Star laughing. 

“I think it’s very sweet,” Tsubaki assured him, her cheeks pink. “Long distance relationships can be hard.”

Kid ignored them, keeping his chin up even as he could feel his face getting redder and redder. 

Crona wasn’t his girlfriend… but not for lack of wishing. 

Desperately wishing to get away from the topic of his love-life, Kid turned to Maka. “How did the mission in London go?” 

Maka huffed and Kid saw the tops of Soul’s ears go red.

“Not well,” she growled. “It was the immortal wolfman.” 

“What?” Kid was bewildered. “The one who stole the witches eye?” 

“Yeah. He called it ‘spatial magic’. He seemed a little...distracted to be honest. I was able to stab his straight through the chest and he hardly seemed to notice,” Soul said. 

Kid frowned. “I thought that the textbook said the witches imprisoned him for his crime. How could he escape?” he asked, half aloud, half to himself.

“Maybe he had help? Like in Die Hard 2?” Liz offers. Kid had no idea what she’s referencing but he had the sinking feeling Patti’s intuition was going in the right direction. 

“Who would help an enemy of witches? If was the DWMA then he wouldn’t have attacked us,” Maka argued back. “He was strong, he might have just have gotten sick of being imprisoned.” 

Kid fingered the folder under his arm and resisted the desire to bit his lip. Over the past few months there had been a slow but noticeable increase in both witch and kishin activity. Typically witches had the good sense to try and keep under the DWMA’s radar, lest they be marked for hunting. Kinshins never seemed to have any plan beyond power consumption. To see the two working together spoke of a storm, bubbling over the horizon, but slowly coming ever closer to them.

Despite the heat, Kid shivered.    

XXX

“Why the  _ fuck _ are you making us row again, Kid?” Liz demanded. 

“Shhh,” he hushed her,  looking out at the frozen sea ahead of them. They were along the northernmost coast of Norway, almost to Iceland. His father’s report said that all of the activity happened around here…

“Can you please at least explain what the hell we’re doing out here? I’m freezing my tits off, goddamnit,” Liz muttered. She tended to curse more when frustrated. 

“Long ago there was a legend in these waters about a massive black dragon…”

XXX

Kid could barely restrain his relief when Liz reappeared and shouted at him, but still rushing to ensure Patti's well being. 

As if Kid would let anything happen to his weapons. 

The captain of the Niddhog drew his own pistol and cackled. 

“Stupid boy, I bet you don't even know who these souls are for!” He sneered. Kid scowled back at him. 

“I find I don't really care. After we're done with you, they'll be returned to Death.”

The captain cackled again. “Better than you know,” he said, blade like teeth glinting. “I’ll see that they get to the kishin, the one that’s right next to you.” 

Kid frowned.  _ What in the hell does that mean? _

The captain lunged and then there was no more time to think about irritatingly esoteric remarks on kishin.

XXx


	5. Soul Eater Axis Powers Hetalia crossover (Gen Post-Canon ending)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I forgot this was originally post-moon. I think I have an alternative somewhere where it's in the animeverse.

_A/N: IM FUCKING WEAK AND A COMPLETE PIECE OF TRASH. SORRY EVERYONE. Yes, I like APH. Yes, I like crossovers. Yes, I will gladly whore myself out if you fuck with meta in crossovers for APH._

_This fic requires a basic knowledge of APH characters. I did my best to quickly link Nations with Canon/Fanon names so it’s not too terribly confusing, but it helps if you have some background._

_For the uninitiated: APH = Axis Powers Hetalia, a webcomic/anime that came out 2006, and got immensely popular. It’s about the anthropomorphization of countries and bounces around in time, from WWI to WWII, modern day, Roman times, ect. If you don’t take it too terribly seriously and don’t mind some humor with your history, (even parts that aren’t inherently hilarious, like World War Two) it’s pretty okay. I’m here to write my fic about how the nations might deal with a desert city that has a very multi-national population and is inherently devoted to turning people into soldiers for a private war._

~~~

It was widely accepted by all nations from 400-year-old China, (named Yao Wang) to not even 50-year-old Sealand (Peter Kirkland/Oxenstierna) that the worst place on the planet, without a doubt, was Death City.

Even if Nations had been more like mortal humans, the place was miserably hot and dry and only those whose borders were on the equator could bare it comfortably. With an average temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, it was the dearest wish of many northern nations to see the damned place melt.

Second, it was in the middle of nowhere. True, the city had a private airport, that used puddle-jump planes from Las Vegas, Carson City, and L.A., but nothing flew internationally to the city. You had to take one of the flying tin cans or a commuter bus to its borders.

Finally and this was the part that the nations hated most, particularly The United States of America, Alfred Jones, was that the city was not part of any nation, but it’s own city-state. Lord Death didn’t bother with being political with the nations or at times even asking permission before border crossing and sending his ‘children’ wherever he wished for them to go. It was an insult at best and if Lord Death had been any other leader on earth it would have been a declaration of war at times. It existed cut off from the rest of the world, like a ship in a bottle. When a visiting nation was there, it was as if someone placed a down pillow over their face, restricting vision, hearing, even taste.

Alfred hated going to Death City. The entire place simply screamed wrong to him. He supposed he should have probably considered it like he considered Salem’s Institute for Witches and Wizards, as a place of magic, or like the Vatican, as holy ground.

Never mind it was ruled by an actual god.

That was the other part Nations didn’t like. Lord Death. As far as they were considered, he was the absolute antithesis of everything they were.

The mood was very tense as the low flying plane bumped over air currents, skating over the mountain range that separates Death Valley from California and into the flat desert proper. Alfred glanced around, looking over his glasses at the rest of the cabin.

In the sardine can with him was the rest of the G8, Ivan nearly bent in half from how small the plane was. There were the soft sounds of tapping as Nations gave their bosses periodic updates. No one was sure how quickly things would progress when they landed, so appearing attentive and aware right now mattered.

There was no intercom for the commuter plane, the co-pilot simply came back to announce that they would be descending and can everyone please pack up their electronics?

Alfred resisted the urge to stretch and kick the seat in front of him. Next to him, Canada, Matthew, was gently shutting his laptop and slipping it into its bag.

Alfred looked out the window. They were close enough to the city now that he could see the red and black buildings. The wings of the plane tipped up and awarded Alfred a view of the sky.

He’d flown planes since the Wright Brothers had patented the design. He’s flown fighter jets and commuted to Europe and Asia with enough regularity that Alfred knew most of the pilots by their first name.

However, his stomach flipped when they turned and he saw the sky and reason why the entire National Assembly was gathering in the most disliked city on the North American continent

The moon was black and stagnant in the sky.

It had been that way for nearly a week and from what Alfred had heard it had Iceland in a near constant full body ache from the way his entire island was reacting to the sudden geothermal activity. Japan was waterlogged and partially deaf from seawater in his right ear, caused the tsunamis pounding up and down his east coast.  Even Alfred could feel it, the way levi after levi's was being swallowed by a sudden shift in tides, from the increase in the mass of the moon. He didn’t even want to know how much of Veneziano’s Venice was flooded.

As the plane started it’s final descent to the tarmac, Alfred hardened his resolve to find out what they had done to the moon.    

     


	6. Soul Eater Harry Potter cross over. The Fourth School (NB!Crona. Kid/Crona)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Death City crew solve the Voldemort problem. Yep. This is the other one that might actually get concluded someday. Bonus! Comes with all of my notes about plot points.

Yet more crossovers. (Soul Eater Harry potter)

A/n: I’ve wanted to write this one for a long long long time. Not this fic per say but basically the concept is something I’ve wanted since I first read the Goblet of Fire when I was but a little lass.

Beats to hit

\- _Scoobies get to Hogwarts during the semester start feast. Including: Stein and Marie, Maka and Soul, Black Star Tsubaki. Kid, Liz, and Patti, Crona, Ox and Harvard. They come in after Moody._

For the second time that evening the door of the Great Hall crashed open.

A few people shouted and the professors had to shout for order.

“Whoops, we arrived in the middle of dinner. How inconvenient,” a deep dry male voice said

Harry craned his neck to look over Ron’s shoulder, and rather than just one shape backlit by the lightening of the storm outside, several people were standing there.

“Who on earth are they?” He heard Pavarti whisper to Lavender. Harry turned to look at the head table, where he saw that all of the professors were looking at Dumbledore, who was frowning ever so slightly.

“Well no good letting us stand here making puddles, Stein,” a cheerful female said and the doors creaked open farther, “Get in kids.”

The murmuring through the crowd increased, and Harry watched, jaw hanging open slightly as a whole group of teenagers and two adults walked in, staring around at the hall.

“Well, this is nice. Open sky dining, without the inconvenience of weather. How do you like that Marie?”

The speaker was the tallest man Harry had ever seen, he’d bet that he came close to reaching Hagrid’s size. His hair was white and trimmed shaggily over his ears. However, the most interesting thing about the man was the massive screw that was stuck through his temples. He reached up to it and gave it a half turn, staring up at the enchanted ceiling. 

“Very nice. Well, I’m sure it would nicer when it’s not a typhoon outside,” a much shorter blonde woman with an eyepatch said, then turned her attention to the rest of the room, blinking up at the head table.

Harry turned to look too and found that half the professors had a hand inside of their robes. Dumbledore had stood up and with his faint smile spread out his arms.

“Guests!”

The tallest man in the group, the one with the screw through his head walked up to Dumbledore, with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“Yes well you see, our own, haha, headmaster has written you a letter. He had trouble getting in touch with you.”

Dumbledore opened the letter, looking over his half-moon glasses. He looked up after a moment.

“Sir, I’m sorry but all this says is, ‘I can do what I want’. -Signed L.D.”

The man shrugged. “Yep. We’ll seat ourselves, no need to get up.”

Dumbledore, the Professors and the students all watched open mouthed as the man walked back down from the head table, looked around, shrugged and then sat on the floor in the middle of the great hall. Within moments all of the students with him had followed him and were on the floor. Harry looked around for reaction and saw that everyone seemed torn between confused amusement and outrage. 

 

- _following Dumbledore’s Triwizard tournament announcement and the 17 y/o age limit, all of the DWMA folks burst into laughter._     

\- _spending about a month at the school before the other schools get there. The golden trio of course do their snooping. They note how weird they all look and act, and the fact they don’t take classes. Stein and Marie just kind of observe everything. The other schools arrive and the Goblet is lit. The DWMA scoobies all put their name in. (It’s actually Crona’s name, since technically they’re the only ‘witch’.)_

\- _The ceremony goes and of course Crona, not Harry is chosen. (He’s so goddamn relieved.) Everyone is shocked and dismayed except for the DWMA crowd. Crona is shown away by the teachers and weirdly, Moody seemed utterly horrified._

 

 

Dumbledore paused, looking back at the Goblet. It had turned red again and was spitting sparks. The headmaster put up his hand again, just in time for the Goblet to release another piece of parchment. He caught it, and stared down, bushy eyebrows drawn up. The Great Hall held its breath and Harry had a horrible sinking feeling, like lead sitting on his lap trying to push him through the bench he was sitting on.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out, “Crona Gorgon.”

Harry, along with everyone else in the hall looked around. There was no one at Hogwarts named Crona. Beaubaxton? Durmstrang?

Instead, he watched as the tallest student from the DWMA, the boy with the odd strawberry blonde hair slowly stood up, and walked resignedly up to Dumbledore. He kept his eyes on the ground and a hand on one arm. Only the DWMA people applauded, whooping and whistling. They seemed oblivious to the fact they were the only ones celebrating. The rest of the hall was buzzing like a nest of angry hornets had been unleashed in the great hall.

Crona reached Dumbledore who spoke quietly to him. Crona exited to the hall, following the same path that the other three champions had taken out. The teachers were all looking around at each other, some in shock, some in anger.

“Look at Moody!” Ron whispered.

Moody was indeed looking horrified, electric blue eye staring straight ahead, not moving an inch. Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime both looked furious, staring over at where Professor Stein had stood up, grinning and twisting his screw.

“Well, four champions. Go figure.” His voice cut through the growing noise in the hall and he gestured grandly. “Should we go tell them what’s what?”

As the school headmasters along with Crouch and Bagman left the hall, and the babbles rose once more. Ron was standing up, craning his head to look over at the DWMA crowd.

For the first time since the Goblet started letting out names, Harry took a deep breath.

 

\- _first task: Crona just cuts the head off the dragon._

\- _Yule Ball: Crona shows up with Kid._

 

“Who do you reckon Crona is going to take?” Harry asked Ron. He shrugged. The frayed edge of his dress robe slipped slightly.  

“Probably that Albarn girl. They’re always together.”

The Entrance hall was already crowded with people, all talking excitedly.

At the bottom, Harry and Ron located the Patil twins. They were herded into the Great Hall to await the champions.

“Look!” Pavarti pointed into one of the corners.

It was the DWMA crowd. Flashy and outlandish as always, they were clearly ready for the Yule Ball. However, it wasn’t the way they were dressed that caught Pavarti’s eye. At first, Harry thought it was the elaborate flower crowns they were all wearing but then Ron gasped.

“Blimey. Are they holding hands?”

Harry looked through the crowd and spotted what he was referring to.

Elizabeth Thompson and Tsubaki Nakatsukasa were holding hands, Thompson in a tight red dress with ruffles around the arms, and Tsubaki in a light pink dress that went all the way to her feet and with black stripes starting at her hips.

More than a few people were staring. Draco Malfoy took one look, then double took while Pansy Parkinson gaped openly. Dean Thomas was whispering to Seamus Finnigan.

Harry shifted uncomfortably.

Uncle Vernon had gone into many diatribes against ‘queers’. As Harry glanced around the hall he wondered if it was the same for many wizarding families. From how Ron was gaping, Harry thought the subject must simply not come up very much.

For their part, Liz and Tsubaki looked utterly unconcerned, both of the chatting animatedly. However Albarn was scowling, looking around at all of the people who had stopped to stare.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” she snarled at a nearby Hufflepuff fourth year, who quickly backed off.

\- _Second Task: Crona completely wigs out when its revealed who is at the bottom of the lake they fly up and dive down. Harry and Ron see Viktor pull Hermione out and get down there in time to see Crona pulling Kid out along with Fleur’s little sister. Outraged, Marie and Stein basically tell the Hogwarts staff where to get off. Madame Pomfrey makes Crona drink a potion and send them into a fit._

 

 

“Come now, out of the way.” Before anyone quite knew what had happened, Madame Pomfrey firmly moved Soul out of her way, grasped Crona by the chin and poured the pepper-up potion down his throat.

From where Harry was standing he could see the look of horror that passed over Crona's face before he started to cough violently. However, within moments the coughing turned to choking and Crona clawed at his throat in terror before collapsing onto the ground.

Albarn whirled around furiously. “And who the hell invited you?!” She snarled at the Pomfrey who looked as shocked as everyone else. Stein picked Crona up, and immediately took off for the castle, Albarn and Evans hot on his heels.

Hermione was still wrapped in a big fluffy blanket when she made it over to Ron and Harry, hair still dripping everywhere. The three of them stared at each other, eyebrows raised.

“Raving. Absolutely barking, all of them.” Ron shook his head.

 

- _Harry catches Stein, Maka and Soul menacing Cedric, and they take him and Cedric out into the forbidden forest to explain where the hell they are doing here._

“We aren’t like you and your culture at all. We’re from a city in the desert called Death City. Our School is the DWMA and,” the man chuckled like he was getting ready to tell a punchline, ‘we usually hunt witches.”

Cedric jerked back, tensing up.

“Don’t worry. We aren’t here for you,” Maka said. “But we wanted to give you a little incentive to listen to our advice.”

“What?” Cedric asked cautiously.

“Throw the tournament. Do not under any circumstance go and win.”

The wind rustled the tops of the trees in the distance and Harry’s eyes widened.

“What?” He and Cedric asked at the same time.  

 

\- _Since the jig is up, and Now Harry knows that the DWMA is here pretty much exclusively on his behalf, he Ron and Hermione start hanging with the scoobies more often._

_ \- Last Task. Cedric enters first, then Krum, and Fleur and Finally Crona. It’s a long agonizing wait and then the crowd see , one, two, three sets of red sparks sent up. Krum Cedric and Fleur are dragged from the maze, all of them unconscious. _

 

“How the hell do you people stand it, just sitting here?” Maka was practically shredding the paper program that students had been handed as they entered the stadium.

“Well it’s all just part of the show, isn’t it?” Ron asked. Maka gave him a truly disgusted look.

“Exploiting children is not a show. This whole thing is still barbaric, and as soon as we’re done here I’m reporting all three of the headmasters to the Society for Children’s Welfare.”

On Harry’s other side Hermione bristled. “And just what do you call what you do, noble? How is going around killing people as sport any different?”

Maka’s already frayed temper seemed close to snapping and Soul grabbed her arm, looking alarmed. But it was Kid who stopped Harry from being trapped between two very angry girls.

“Look!” A lone figure was emerging from the Maze.

It was Crona, who seemed utterly unharmed. It took a moment for the crowd to register what had happened.

However, when they did it seemed like a bomb of noise had gone off in the stadium. Screams of delight from the DWMA were drowned out by the boos and catcalls of the students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

Crona didn’t seem to care at all, walking steadily to the judge's box.

“Well, it seems like the last contestant to enter the maze is also the last to leave,” Bagman’s magically magnified voice boomed out. “But where’s the cup?”

Crona shrugged. Harry only just realized that they had a bag over one shoulder and their hands were tightly clamped around….something.

Silence slowly fell as Crona reached the judges. Stopping in front of Dumbledore they carefully opened their hands, and held up…

“Merlin!” Ron gasped hoarsely and Harry’s heart stopped in his chest. “It’s Pettigrew!”

In Crona’s white-knuckled grip was a ragged looking rat, which was twisting and clawing furiously to get away.

“Sir. I was told you were looking for this.” Crona’s voice seemed to echo in the field. They held the rat out to Dumbledore who took it. Then they dropped the bag they had been holding and Harry in the split second before the pain him, realized it had been a folded up cloak. However, then it felt like his head had been split open and he hissed reached up to press his hands to his scar.

The stadium erupted in screams.

Harry was pressed down by several hands, and through his teary-eyed gaze he saw Maka stand up, grab Soul’s hand and then a bright flash of light blinded him. Next thing he knew she was holding a titanic scythe. Leaping over the seats Maka seemed to fly down the stadium.

All around him was screaming more flashes of light. The sound of thousands of feet pounded around him, the ground shaking.

“Harry! Harry! Get up, we’re going to get trampled!” Hermione screamed. Ron looped an arm around his midsection and pull Harry to his feet and despite the agony in his Head Harry gasped.

The hedge maze was burning and everything contained inside it was spilling out. Harry watched as one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts scuttled out, it’s string poised over it’s back.

But in front of the blaze was the Entire DWMA contingent, raining blows down on Moody, who looked truly monstrous, mouth pulled into a snarl, and waving his wand so fast Harry could only see a blur of wood.

“My master! My master! You bloody arrogant child, I’ll kill you!” He screamed.

But if Moody was monstrous in his rage then the DWMA was inhuman on a whole other level. Gunshots rang out in perfect rhythm, Kid’s bone white face eerie in the firelight.

“You disgust me.” Kid didn’t need to yell, the force behind his words was like a bell, soaring over the noise and confusion.

 

-epilogue.

“So what happens now?” It was the last night at Hogwarts, and the next day the DWMA students were going back to America.

Maka shrugged. “We go back to the DWMA. We keep hunting kishins. Nothing has changed for us, except that now we have one less place Medusa can hide.” She smiled in satisfaction.

“You can write us if you want. We can give you the school address if you want,” Tsubaki offered. “I’d like to know how you like living with you godfather, Harry.”

Black Star laughed, cheeks bulging with food. “You saying you’re gonna miss us, little man?” He swallowed and continued. “Well don’t worry, I, the great Black Star give you permission to visit anytime you need to me again.”

Maka rolled her eyes. “Black Star he needs more of you in his life like he needs another hole in his head.”

“Ouch, sick burn Maka.” Soul grinned at Black Star and then at Harry. “Don’t worry man, she doesn’t really mean it.”

Ox snorted. “Well, I for one will be well pleased when this mission is officially closed.”

Harvard looked surprised. “I thought you would have liked being back home Ox.”

“I’m from the south of England. This is Scotland. Two totally different things.”

Hermione looked around. “Crona isn’t coming to dinner?”

Liz smirked. “Nah. I think Kid had something he wanted to show them. They’ve been blue ever since the last night of the tournament.”

\- Harry looked out the train window, steam partially obscuring his vision. The DWMA students had already turned back and were walking away, getting harder to see with every moment.

Harry squinted as the train turned and whisked the castle and students out of sight.

“Barking mad, the whole lot.”

-FIN                   

 


End file.
